


these twists and turns of fate

by Mertiya



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Angst, Explicit Language, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Timeline Shenanigans
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-03-08
Updated: 2012-03-08
Packaged: 2017-11-01 15:53:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,365
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/358610
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mertiya/pseuds/Mertiya
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rose fields a strange request from Dave at some ridiculous hour of the morning.</p>
            </blockquote>





	these twists and turns of fate

The light of the computer screen bathing her face in a white, unearthly glow, Rose Lalonde sits crouched before her desk, her legs curled up beneath her in an awkward, cramped position. It's getting late, even for her. Midnight passed hours ago, and four a.m. is swiftly approaching.

"Hey, Rose." The voice from behind her starts her up out of her reverie and she draws a swift intake of breath before turning.

"Dave," she says simply, by way of greeting.

"Fuck, sis, you ever going to bed?"

She raises an eyebrow at him. "This from the boy who makes a nonchalant habit of insomnia?"

He shrugs easily, and in that moment, she wishes she could see his eyes, shuttered beneath their dark shades. Then he stretches and yawns, his gangly body arching and leaving behind his too-small clothes. They've all been growing, but Dave more than most. "Well I'm off to the land of shitty dreams and snoozes."

"Have a pleasant evening," she says, shifting and reshifting her weight in front of her computer screen. He moves in and ruffles her hair, the way a real brother might have done, and she remembers with a shock that he knows how real brothers behave, even as she shakes off his hand with a weary glare. He laughs at her and strides out the door.

She turns back to the beguiling lights of her computer screen. Three years trapped on a tiny asteroid in the middle of nowhere is unpleasant, but she's learned to adapt. Still, she has been staying up later and later, night after night, staring at her idle Pesterchum client, clicking from moronic video to moronic video on Youtube, writing page after page of purple prose with no beginning and no end. Sighing, she opens up one of her tabs, slides her headphones into her ears and tells it to play.

_Let it go_

_Let it roll right off your shoulder…_

Her eyes are gritty with tiredness, her head aching and searing with light.  
Maybe Dave is right. Maybe she is staying up too late. She reaches out halfheartedly to close her laptop, when the little Pesterchum indicator begins to flash silently.

_Our lives are made in these small hours…_

Maybe it's Karkat. He's usually asleep by now, but he's been known to have fits of self-loathing and panic. She clicks over with a sigh, and feels a faint frisson of surprise that  turntechGodhead [TG]  began pestering tentacleTherapist [TT].

Didn't Dave say he was going to sleep?

TT: I was under the impression you were about to get some rest.  
TG: what rose oh shit hi  
TT: Were you not going to attempt to get some sleep?  
TG: oh uh i dont know  
TT: Dave, is this some kind of practical joke?

Practical jokes are something she would expect more from John, but Dave has been attempting to be vaguely brotherly, after all.

TG: no sis this isnt a joke  
TG: shit  
TG: look im just uh having trouble sleeping and shit thats all  
TT: You are prevaricating.  
TG: dont be ridiculous  
TG: your making a fool of yourself rose  
TG: a fool or a shitty puppet or some kind of smurfy ironical thing  
TT: Dave.  
TG: or maybe not a puppet but something else stupid like a kids tv show  
TT: Dave.  
TG: transformers was pretty good in a shitty ironic kind of way  
TT: DAVE.  
TG: jegus fuck what  
TT: You are messaging me at an ungodly hour of the morning just after you yourself told me you were going to sleep.  
TT: You are also apparently attempting to avoid discussion of how strangely you are acting.  
TG: shit ok fine yeah this isnt dave

Yes, it is. You can tell.

TG: i mean its not your dave  
TG: this is dave from the future and some shitty random timeline  
TG: installed some random transtimeline crap on my comp ok

_Time falls away._

TT: Very well.   
TT: This does seem to answer the question of who you are.  
TT: It does not, however, answer the question of why you wished to contact me in the first place.  
TT: Are you attempting to pull off yet another temporal shenanigan, Dave?  
TG: not exactly  
TG: sort of maybe  
TG: just thought youd like to know that everythings going great now  
TG: broadly speaking i mean were like this close to killing lord english and hell probably be dead in a few hours and shit because were so fucking awesome like that  
TT: This is indeed excellent news; however, it does not seem reason enough for you to risk the integrity of time itself to communicate it to me.  
TG: yeah ok look im just asking for a favor ok  
TT: Very well. Ask away.  
TG: can you give me a hug  
TG: i mean not me but like your me shit you know what i mean   
TT: This is...an odd request.  
TG: fuck i know that ok  
TT: But of course I will comply.  
TT: Doubtless you will be as surprised as I myself.  
TT: Is this an attempt to ensure that an event takes place which you could perceive as having no cause other than yourself and thus perpetuate a timeline in which, as you have espoused, everything is 'hunky-dory'?  
TG: no  
TG: i dont think were in the same timeline  
TG: i gotta go  
TT: Very well.  
TG: rose  
TT: Yes?  
TG: be careful ok  
TT: I am always careful, Dave.  
TG: i dont care how bad you think things are theres always a way out ok  
TG: dont  
TG: dont die on me again rose  
TT: What?  
TG: bye rose

turntechGodhead [TG] ceased pestering  tentacleTherapist [TT]

Rose pushes back from her computer feeling ill at ease. Surely it's nothing. Just a silly practical joke on her semi-newfound brother's part. It's easier to think that, of course, and a clinical part of herself notes the ease with which she thinks it. She glances back at the computer, but instead of turning it off, she lets her headphones fall and heads out of the room.

Dave is already sleeping, curled up into a little ball on his bed, and she hovers in the doorway for a moment, staring at his tousled blond hair, and his spectacles discarded on the floor. He looks naked without them.

He sits up with an exclamation when she lets her weight sink onto the bed.

"Jegus fuck, Rose! What are you doing!"

"I am...carrying out a mission."

He blinks at her, eyes huge and red and sleepy, then throws up a hand to shield them. "I'm not decent, woman!"

She tuts at him. "Oh, nonsense. Now come here." Gingerly, awkwardly, she puts her arms around him, and he stiffens in surprise but lets her. It's a clumsy hug, all angles and elbows and funny positions putting cricks into necks, but it's warm; she can feel his heart beating, and it's safe, and he's not protesting more than a little, so he is probably enjoying it as well. She holds the hug for a long moment, then pulls away. "I'm sorry I woke you, Dave."

He shrugs. "It's okay, sis. What the hell was this about anyway?"

She looks away. "Just a favor for a friend."

_These little wonders, these twists and turns of fate_

Dave sits in front of the computer screen, his legs drawn up to his chest, his arms wrapped around himself, and he wonders what it would have felt like to touch his sister. Just once.

They're probably going to win, but if they do--won't that make this the alpha timeline? He doesn't know anymore. He wishes he could have had just one hug. He wishes she hadn't saved them all. Stupid, he knows. But he clicks back over to the Pesterchum window, staring at the purple text on the screen, wishing he could have found more to say.

He wishes

He doesn't know what he wishes

TT: I was under the impression you were about to get some rest.

He touches his computer screen lightly and looks away.

_Time falls away, but these small hours_  
 _These small hours still remain._

**Author's Note:**

> Loosely inspired by this trollmegle convo: http://trollmegle.net:8080/logs/855781.html
> 
> I was Dave; if you're the Rose in question, and you want credit, just send me a PM or something. :)


End file.
